Four cases of tuberculosis have been reported in Dominica. Health officials said the number is “a little more than usual” since the island nation does not usually have as many cases reported at a single time.
Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. David Johnson, said the patients will be isolated during hospital admission and given powerful drugs to cure them of the contagious disease.
“We noticed we have seen a little more than usual based on the confirmation,” Dr. Johnson said. We did investigations for other individuals who have been exposed and some of the tests that we have done indicate that they are infectious. As precautionary measures, we would admit these individuals and treat these individuals aggressively to ensure that they do not get full-blown tuberculosis.”
He said the standard procedure for treating a tuberculosis patient is to get them hospitalized after diagnosis. He said the course of treatment may last for 6 months. Following discharge from the hospital, the patient continues to use their medication until they are no longer contagious or the infection is totally out of their body system.
During the hospitalization and monitoring period, health officers conduct investigations into where the patient is living and his place of work to ensure that others have not been infected with the disease.
Dr. Johnson said Dominica is very capable of treating any tuberculosis cases because there is the medical expertise and there are enough drugs to deal with the problem. He cited an instance where a sister island requested for Dominica’s assistance for tuberculosis drugs and it was provided with ease.
“This goes to show the extent in which government ensures that there is adequate treatment for tuberculosis,” he said.
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